Recently it created a very slick classy briefcase made of calf leather and named it caviar briefcase.

A. Testonis website

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Back in April I wrote a post about a mere rumour, that the Caspian Sea border states are planning to ban sturgeon fishing for the duration of ten years. This proposal is to be seen under the fact, that all five border states failed year after year to agree on export quotas in order to conserve the already fast dwindling sturgeon stocks. Since the last two years there is an export ban on all black caviar from the Caspian Sea.

(Of course this doesn’t mean one can’t find any wild caviar these days. There is. But the delicacy has to be smuggled or two and a half years old…Either way, no reassuring reasons to spend your money as it could be a label fraud, rotten goods or an unintended act of supporting a crime organization.)

The possible future ban on sturgeon fishing was earlier mentioned to endure ten year, then only five. And now it seems that the bar was raised up to fifteen years. But with the slow maturation rate of the sturgeons in mind (the females take up to fifteen years to reach fertility) this would mean – at best – to maintain the current stocks instead of populating growth.

A fifteen years ban? For some a bold attempt. For most simply not good enough. Triple the years and the sturgeons in the Caspian Sea could maybe have a bright future.

But even if such a ban could come into existence, it would not solve the problem of lack of control and corruption (the Caspian Sea is a very vast place!) and the high risk of pollution that comes with oil drilling. And all three put the sturgeon where he is today: on the edge of the abyss.

For all wild caviar lovers who want to ease mind & palate, head for premium farmed caviar.

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In the aftermath of the current disaster taking place in the Gulf of Mexico one might ask what would be the scale of event if something similar happened in the Caspian Sea? The worlds biggest inland body of water and home of aprox. 80% of the worlds sturgeon populations?

The threat in the Caspian due to Oil drilling is nothing new of course. I posted some articles pointing out this issue (click here and here).

The outcome would of course be nothing else then catastrophic. But one doesn’t need to go so far. Even today we know for a fact, that the natural ressources of the Caspian Sea is under heavy bombardment. The combination of poaching, overfishing, lack of control, corruption, oil and gas pullution, wastewater sewers, hidroelectric power plants, etc. lead to a worse then hideous picture. Its pure shame.

The stories about high toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury and copper around the coastline of the Caspian Sea, harming not only the soon to be extinct sturgeons and seals, but even more importantly the health of its coastal human population, speak in a crystal clear manner: The era of wild caviar is over. Full stop.

The future is premium farmed caviar. The future is ZwyerCaviar.

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And as always with LV, style is guaranteed.

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See the commercial, aired during the last super bowl.

According to a poll, only 17% of the Russians have bought and/or eaten caviar in the last 2 years…

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Now, after I cheered to that for a while as a gone-mad-greenpeace-disciple, I had to make one step back and reflect about what actually hangs in the air. Let’s be clear, even if the direction might be right, a 10-year fishing ban doesn’t bring these critically endangered sturgeons to their well-deserved bright future. Because of their slow maturation – wild sturgeons lay their eggs at the age of  aprox. 15 years old (depending the species) – some scientist suggest a ban of at least four decades to be effective! And there is just no way, that any fishing and/or customs authority (might it be legal or corrupt) of the bordering states is up and ready to sacrifice some additional pocket-$$$.

As far as I know, only the Japanese know how to follow plans that take 50 long years to play out. And I am talking about ‘A’ and not ‘B’ plans. I just dont see how the Russians (not talking about the rest) could manage such an undertaking.

And even if they would declare such ban, let me put it in the words of sturgeon expert and conservationist Phaedra Doukakis: “The challenge for Russia is the vastness of the Volga River Delta. It won’t just take this moratorium, it will also take a pretty good crackdown on illegal fishing.”

And about that ‘10-year ban rumour’ I mentioned, the latest that I picked up in the internet void was, that they reduced it to 5 years. Don’t act surprised…

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Learn about the important work of Phaedra Doukakis and Ellen Pikitch. Both of them, sturgeon experts.

It would take at least another 6-8 years before we see any caviar made in Argentina. And having the current market situation with increasing competition and crumbling prices in mind, I’m not sure whether this undertaking is bold or just something else…Fortunately for ZwyerCaviar, there is almost no branded high quality and ethically farmed caviar in sight.

Anyhow, here you can read the original article.

After the strong market impact from Chinese sturgeon farms selling caviar, Burma could become another potential producer market, putting the price crumbling for caviar under continuing pressure.

Click here to read original article published in January 2010.